Towel-holding device



' A. P. SHUPEQ TOWEL HOLDING DEVICE.

APPLJCATION FILED JUNE 15, 1918.

1,404,240. at nt d Jan. 24, 1922.

, UNITEDfiTATESTPATENT OFFICE.

annex r. snore, or ms'r CLEVELAND, 01110.

rownrrnornrlve DEVICE.

. Application filed June 15, To all whom it may con emn Be it known that I, ABRAM- P. Snore, a

citizen of the United States, residingat East Cleveland, in the county 'of- Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Towel- Holding Devices, of which ithe'following is a full, clear,*and exact description.

This invention-relates to an apparatus particularly adapted for the holding of towels which are placed in a washroom or other public places, and affords ameans for holding a stack of towels and locking the towels against removal from the device. An object of the invention .is to provide a device which will hold a stack of towels which may be placed as aunit in a suitable supporting device and removed as a unit, at the same'time providing a construction in which the towels are so mounted as to be convenient for use. Generally speaking, the invention may be said to comprise the elements and combinations thereof, set forth in the accompanying claims.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, in which 1 shows in elevation. a device for holding and locking a stack of towels associated with a supporting means; Fig. 2is a sectional elevation showing a stack of towels in position; Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation-of a portion of a stack of towels and the device which holds them, illustrating the manner in which the towels are used; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing different positions of the towel-holding device in its support as the towels are used; Fig. 5 is an elevation of a portion of the towel-holding device; and Fig. 6 is an elevation showing amodified form of towel-holding device.

It is a very desirable and necessary thing that towels which. are to be placed in Washrooms or other places of more or less ublic nature where it is diiiicult or impossi 1e to prevent the loss of towels due to appropriation of the same by users, that a. suitable device be provided which will secure the towels in such a manner as to prevent their being appropriated by users, but, at the same time, such a device should be of such a nature as to permit the convenient usage of the towels. Furthermore, it is desirable from the commercial point of view, to provide a device in which stacks of towels may be conveniently handled with respect to removing Speci-ficationof Letters Patent. Patented Jan, 24, 1922,

1918. Serial a... 240,210.

and replacing of the same by the persons charged with replacement of soiled towels by clean towels.

In the construction about to be described, it is the aim to reduce a device fulfilling both of the conditions before mentioned.

Referring to the drawings, a suitable standard or support is indicated in Fig. 1, having side members 1 and 2, which side members are provided with suitable means for supporting the towel-holding device. In the present instance this is accomplished by providing the arm 2 with a hole 2, and the arm 1 with a slot 1 which permits the towel-holding device to be removed.

The particular supporting standard, such as illustrated in the drawings, is not essential to the operation of the towel-holding device, and is merely illustrative of any proper means for the'purpose.

Between the members 1 and 2 there is a support having an inclining face, such as indicated at 3, the purpose of which will be later referred to.

The towel-holding device itself, comprises a rod 4 and a rod 5, these rods being spaced apart and. adapted to receive a. stack of towels between the same for the purpose of holding the towels.

Adjacent to one of its ends, the rod 4 has an upright member 6 whichis suitably secured to the rod, and upon the upright member 6 the rod 5 is pivotally supported. This may be conveniently accomplished by slotting the end of the rod 5 a sufficient amount to receive the upright member 6 and rounding off the corner of the upright member 6 so 1as to permit swinging movement of the 10( 5.

At the opposite end of the rod 5, to that which has been under discussion, the rod 5 is slotted, and in the slot there ispivotally mounted a strap 7. This strap extends toward the rod 4 and is adapted to extend through a slot or the opening 4 which is formed in the rod 4. The end of the strap 7 is provided with a plurality of openings 7 and 1n one of these openings there is inserted a padlock or other locking device, such as indicated at 8, it being apparent that when the padlock or other locking device is inserted, the bars or rods 4: and 5 are locked with respect to each other.

Upon the rod 1 there may, if desired, be placed members 9 and 10, which members lie adjacent to the ends of the rod 4, and are Jan.

for the purpose of limiting any endwise movement of the rod 4 with respectto the.

tance or space between the rods 4 and-5 is,

of course, designed to be appropriate to receive-a stack of towels of a given number.

I 1 That is to say, if it beudesired to hold a stack of fifty towels, the towel-holding dericei'will be. constructed so that the rods 4 and '5 are placed apart aproper distance-to hold this number of towels, and so with any given number of'towels, the spaceof the rods 4 and 5 is madeapp'ropriate for the stack of towels to be held. a

The towels are placed between the rods 7 4 and 5 and the towels extend substantially upon both sides thereon of the rod. In other words,;the. towels are clamped at the middle portion thereof. When the towels are placed between the rods'4 and 5, the strap 7 is int serted through the slot 4 and the padlock a such as indicated at 4 and 5", these projections being oppositely disposed and staggered with respect to each other. These projections merely increase the frictional hold of thebars 4 and 5 upon the stack of towels. Towels thus clamped may be so prepared at the place where they are laundered, and carried .in these clamped stacks,to the places wherethey are to be used, and for the purpose of using the same, the

1: clamping device with its towels is placed in a suitable support suchas that shown in Fig. 1, in such fashion that the towels lie against the supporting member 3.

In using the towels, one ofthe towels on the back ofthe stand, for instance, a towel as indicated at 12 is grasped and pulled over the rod'5 and when used is allowed to hang,

still remaining over the rod 5. So in turn, 7

subsequent towels are used and allowed to hang, and as the used towels accumulate,

the weight of the towels will cause the rod 4 to turn in its mountings and when the ends of one portion of the towels are all pulled over the ban 5, the, towel-holding device will be insuchposition as to permit the use of the other ends of the'towels until both ends of all the towels have been used.

l Having described my invention, Iclaim:

l..In adeviceof the character described, theicombination with a pair ofspaced upright supports-having: oppositely disposed journals; of a rod provided with trunnions at itsendswhiohare freely mounted in the aforesaid'journals, an upright member secured to said-rod, a second rod lpivotally secured upon said upright member and adapted to extend substantially parallel with the first mentioned rod,1a strap pivoted to the second mentioned nod adjacent its end, said first mentioned rod being provided with an opening through whichsaid strap is adapted to extend,- and means 'fior securing said strap against withdrawal from the said openingin the first mentioned rod.

2. In a'device of the character described, the 1 combination of oppositely disposed supporting members, an inclined towel support mounted betweenthe said supporting members, a rod rotatably supported at its ends in the said supporting'members, a second rod mounted upon the first rod, and adapted to hold a stack of towels clamped between said rods at substantially their .central portion, means for-holding the second rod in clamped relation against the towels, the saidtowels engaging and lying against the inclined towel support, the said first mentioned rod ,ABRAM P. SHUPE. 

